The number of unsalaried workers dropped to the lowest level in history due to the pandemic. 

People in their 40s and 50s working in the service sector were most impacted, with figures plummeting to levels worse than the IMF financial crisis and the 2008 global financial crisis.

According to Statistics Korea, the number of those not under a payroll in August stood at around six-point-six million, the lowest figure on record, falling by nearly 30-thousand on-year.

Unsalaried workers refers to the self-employed and those who work for their families for free.

Only about 24 percent of the country’s workers were unsalaried. However, the self-employed with no other workers rose by 56-thousand in the past year, reflecting financial difficulties.